The Social Democratic party did not win the last election, they just lost it less than they thought they would. The election result, was the worst since 1911, for the Social Democrats. Yet, the Social Democrats remained in government.
That is probably great, “we lost but we did not lose”, if you are a Social Democrat. But, it has put the Social Democrats in a position, where they have had to abandon their own policies, to remain in government.
A year after the new Social Democratic government was formed, the Covid-19 epidemic came to Sweden. It is not the aim of this blog-post to list all the actions and non-actions taken by the Swedish government and its authorities. But, looking at the information from the authorities, one is struck by, that there is a lot of information in detail, but there seems to be no overriding plan (this observation was originally made by the academic Wilhelm Agrell.)
As the Swedish death toll increases, and the comparison with neighboring countries becomes less encouraging, the Swedish path is increasingly questioned.
Ministers of the Government, and the Prime minister, has stressed the seriousness of the situation again and again. See here, here and here, a sample of several instances.
At the same time it has become increasingly apparent, that large segments of the public does not comply with the regulations. In a remarkable clip from SVT, a young actress says that herd immunity is “the way to go.” Apparently she assumes that she is not the one, that will die from the virus, while Sweden attains herd immunity.
There is every indication that Sweden is a country at the end of an era, where the pride of Sweden, the Social Democratic welfare state, no longer retains its legitimacy; where the Swedish Social Democratic government has been able to cling on to power, but does not have or wield power, and is no longer seen as an authority and does not command the respect of the Swedish people.
The old man is not old and wise, he is just old and weak. Life has passed him by. Who will replace him, we do not know. Meanwhile, it seems as though Sweden has become a ship without command, drifting in perilous waters at the mercy of the elements.